


Ironic

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Hermione is the same age as the Marauders, lily and James live, marriage law
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:42:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25926079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: It’s a brief drabble-thing combining marriage law, remus and hermione in a James and Lily live AU. No age difference, marauder era HermioneFor the wonderful BlueeyedSue
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Remus Lupin
Comments: 49
Kudos: 129





	Ironic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [blueeyedsue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueeyedsue/gifts).



> Thank you so much BoredRavenvlaw for your assistance beta reading!!!! I appreciate so much!   
> And dear, BlueeyedSue—your kindness and encouragement in *all* of my stories means more than I could ever fully express. Thank you so much and I hope you know how lovely you are. And how much I appreciate all you do.

* * *

_ Marriage Law _ . 

There was more to the Ministry issued memo than that, but for once in his life, Remus couldn’t be bothered to care. All breath fled his lungs as his fingers closed around the parchment. 

Moony’s ears twitched, his tail wagging in a pitifully hopeful wag… A wag Remus was determined to ignore here and now. 

No marriage. No mates. It was for the best. 

He’d decided that long ago. All the way back to when he rejected the affections of one Lily Evans (even as he returned them and  _ more _ ) back in sixth year. He even encouraged her to give James another chance once the idiot had settled into himself and ceased being such a berk. It had been a bit of an ordeal for Moony seeing his advice actually  _ work _ and watch the witch haunting his every dream and fantasy fall in love with one of his pack the last two years of Hogwarts. 

And It had been a confusing combination of misery and relief the day James and Lily married—things were final. She was Lily Evans Potter now. She loved someone who returned her love and made her laugh. Someone who could protect her always and  _ not  _ be a monthly source of danger to her. Someone who had endless job possibilities and a vault at Gringotts overflowing with old family Galleons for a comfortable future. 

In other words, James was all that Remus could never offer, and all that Lily deserved. And as Fate would have it, James was the Marauder in possession of an Invisibility Cloak—one of those Pureblood family heirlooms—and he was the one with enough pluck, nerve, and dumb luck to actually take on Voldemort with naught but the aforementioned cloak and his wand and actually  _ win. _

Voldemort’s reign of terror had ended the night he brought the fight to Godric’s Hollow, and Remus foolishly believed he’d survived the worst of his suffering and worry now that the war had ended, and Lily, Harry and James were safe. 

_ A marriage law _ , he growled to himself, looking down the crumpled mess of parchment in his fist. His knuckles had whitened with the force of emotion. He threw it up to the sky, whipping out his wand and setting it on fire with a furious  _ “Incendio,”  _ without a second thought. 

Moony leapt to the front of his mind, yelping. “ _Needed that, idiot!_ “ He bared his teeth to Remus. “ _Need details. Need name. Need to_ ** _not_** _go to Azkaban._ ” 

“Doesn’t matter,” Remus huffed, shoving his hands in his pockets as he stomped towards the backdoor of his cabin—the baskets of his morning harvest from his garden long forgotten now. “No marriage. Ever. We’ll move to another country and start over if necessary.” 

“ _ Will  _ **_not_ ** _! Pack is here. Harry Pup is here. Home is here. We stay.”  _

“Naff off.” Remus slammed the door closed and yanked at his shirt. He could and  _ would  _ run and swim his troubles away. He could and  _ would  _ hide himself at work until it was necessary for him to leave. 

Whomever the witch he’d been matched with was—she was better off without him. She’d likely remember him as too quiet and awkward from school. Too unpredictable with work and public appearances now. She wouldn’t come looking for him. 

And that was for the best. 

* * *

“Pardon me, but I’m looking for Remus Lupin. Is he working today?” 

Remus’ heart stopped—no, really. It did. It actually did. A vice clamped over his lungs as he heard his boss answer the customer (the  _ female  _ customer _ ) _ from his perch behind the front counter and direct her to where Remus stood stocking shelves at the back of the store. 

“Thank you,” the witch answered. Her tone was friendly but wholly unfamiliar, and yet Remus knew… He just  _ knew _ … 

It was  _ her _ . 

It had to be. 

No one outside of the pack asked for him specifically at work. And even so, it wasn’t a voice he recognised, leaving only one possible explanation for a witch to be—

“Who is she?” the feminine voice demanded, startling Remus from his frozen stupor of fear. 

“Merlin!” He whirled around, falling back into the shelves of books, eyes wide to find…

The most beautiful witch he’d ever seen standing not even two feet from him. 

“ _ Soooooo pretttttyyyyy _ .” Oh.  _ Oh _ . Moony had begun to drool and Remus couldn’t collect his thoughts for speech, much less an intelligent answer to… whatever it was she’d asked. Moony began to croon, “ _ Thick curls—perfect for losing hands in. Look so soft and shiny. Like silk. Freckles and nose and curves and perfect height, and—“  _

“I’m disclosing now that I’ve cast a silencing charm over the area, so we’ll be speaking in complete privacy.” The witch was mercifully speaking again, putting an end to Moony’s sonnet of admiration. Her eyes narrowed at him. “So I’ll ask you again: Who. Is. She?” 

“No one,” Remus answered, not bothering for clarification. His first instinct was never wrong. 

“Really?” 

“Honest.” Remus lifted his hands palms up, a sign of surrender. A sign of… whatever this witch wanted with him, honestly. He’d never felt such a cocktail of warmth, courage, fear, elation, and contentment. He would answer this witch anything. Always and forever. “I pushed her at one of my best mates when we were back in school and watched them marry just over two years ago. She’s happy and well and… She has nothing to do with my opposition to the marriage law, Miss…?” 

“Granger.” The witch proffered her hand to him, her handshake firm and not unfriendly… but not quite happy, either. “I’m Hermione Jean Granger and we’ve been matched for a month now, and since you’ve refused all Ministry issued post, you left me with no other choice but to seek you out and force a conversation in person.” 

_ “Brave. Clever. Perfect match. Fearless witch. Love herrrrrr—“ _

Remus coughed, cutting Moony off. “How were you able to find me, Miss Granger?” 

“Hermione, please. We are technically engaged.” 

“Right.” Remus licked his lips and swallowed. He’d never felt so utterly stupefied in his life, not even when under that particular spell. “How did you find me,  _ Hermione?” _

“I am Junior Undersecretary of the Department of Magical Beasts, Beings, and Creatures, Remus—may I call you Remus?” What else could he do but nod, at which Hermione nodded again and dropped her hand. ( _ Had they been holding hands still?!) “ _ I’m specifically in charge of overseeing the production and dispersion of potions meant to aid werewolves, vampires, and Veela, meaning I know who you are, and I’m not afraid of you.” 

Blood rushed from Remus’ face. “You… you do? I mean, you aren’t? I mean—” 

“No, I’m not.” Hermione took a step towards him, making the space between them no more than a foot. Twelve insignificant inches, and he could close that easily. So very easily take her into his arms and find out if she tasted as magnificent as she smelled…

He shook himself from such fantasies. Not here, not now. “You weren’t at Hogwarts,” he found himself saying, wishing he could take the words back instantly. They were stupid and there could easily be a dozen explanations, none of which necessarily mattered at the moment. 

But Hermione’s expression had softened, a small smile curling up her face. “No, I wasn’t. My parents sent me to Ilvermorny after meeting with a few of the Hogwarts professors and encountering such backwards opinions of Muggle-borns and their place in magical society. I can assure you, though, that I’m both British and magical enough to meet the requirements for a marriage law, and I’ll not be refused without a fair chance. It’s  _ my  _ future you’re putting at risk, too, you know.” 

“No.” Remus fought to swallow the lump in his throat, his hands limp and utterly useless at his side. Better than already buried in her wild curls and getting himself hexed he supposed. “No, I hadn’t considered that.” 

The witch—the  _ woman—Hermione _ —glared at him now. “What in the name of Circe have you been doing with the memos you’ve been receiving?” 

“Burning them.” It sounded ridiculous to admit aloud, especially to someone so captivating—so bloody  _ delicious  _ smelling—

“ _ Mate,”  _ Moony hummed, and Remus found he lacked all bark or bite to argue the statement. How could he when Hermione smelled of cinnamon and the woods and all things cozy and autumn, and—

“That’s a pretty silly course of action,” Hermione huffed, folding her arms across her chest. “Selfish, too. Wouldn’t you agree?” 

Remus licked his lips and gave a noncommittal shrug, even as his heart raced to the point of thundering in his chest. “Possibly. But I’ve little to my name to offer anyone by means of a comfortable or happy life, so one could argue I was acting selflessly.” 

“Perhaps, but I’m not one of those people.” Hermione’s lips parted even wider, then closed, only to open and close again. She started to nibble on her lower lip as her body canted to his, her chocolate-coloured eyes boring holes into his all the while. As if she could see through the walls he kept in place with strangers and was now peering into his very soul. “I’m not happy about this either, and I don’t think that any sort of forced cohabitation and bonding will dispel prejudices against Muggle-borns and magical creatures, but I know your record. I know your acts of bravery and selfless heroism during the war I missed while in school and working in America. I knew it would be a gamble coming back to Britain after the war, but I wanted to come home. I wanted to be nearer my family again. To even consider starting a family of my own here someday.” 

“Really?” 

“Really.” 

Remus wasn’t breathing now. Or maybe he was and maybe Hermione was feeling the warmth of his breath over her nose and chin, just as he felt the warmth of  _ hers _ skip across his own chin. He couldn’t recall at what point of Hermione’s explanation they’d drawn closer to each other. Couldn’t be held responsible now for anything other than losing himself in the beautiful witch before him…

“Would you…” Hermione stopped herself, her hand floating up towards him, fingers hesitant and tentative as they hovered near his face. He nuzzled his cheek to the tips of her fingers first, then sank into her touch as she cupped his cheek. Her words were soft as she tried again. “She wasn’t your mate, then? The one you pushed away?” 

“No.” It was choked and rushed, and Remus was forgetting himself entirely as he brought both of his hands to Hermione’s face. He nearly pulled away, berating himself that he’d not even asked permission to touch her yet, but she was sliding the fingers of one hand up to his hair, brushing shaggy locks away from his brow with the other. He needed a trim, but that was beside the point at the moment. “Lily wasn’t my mate. I didn’t believe in mates back then.” 

“Do you now?” 

_ Yes.  _ “I don’t know. Perhaps.” 

Hermione smiled and it was the warmth of the sun and brilliance of the moon beaming up at him. “Do you think you could spare the time for a pot of tea and a plate of scones to find out? Marriage law, or Fate, or magic, or whatever it is—I felt something the moment I read your name. And I knew I needed to find you.” 

“I’m glad you did.” The smile he offered her in return was the most genuine he’d ever given, and one of the few he offered from both Remus  _ and  _ Moony. The future had never seemed so full and bright. So bursting with love and possibilities. 

Ironic, considering the circumstances under which he’d met his mate. 


End file.
